Employment on Behalf of Jaguar Land Rover
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EXAMINATION IN PUBLIC OF Coventry Local Plan Hearing Statement in respect of Hearing Session 7 – Employment On behalf of Jaguar Land Rover Contents Page 1 Introduction 3 2 Question d) 4 3 Question h) 13 4 Question k) 14 2 1 Introduction 1.1 This Statement has been prepared by Gerald Eve LLP (Gerald Eve) on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover. It provides submissions in relation to Hearing Session 7 – Employment. 1.2 This Statement should be read in conjunction with earlier Representations submitted in respect of the draft Plan, as well as the Hearing Statements that are being submitted on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover in respect of other matters subject to Examination. 1.3 As set out within the Inspector’s Hearings Guidance Note, this Statement is limited only to matters considered necessary to assist consideration of the Sessions and specific questions raised. 3 2 Employment - Question d 2.1 Question d) asks: “Given the importance of Jaguar Land Rover as one of the biggest employers in the City and region, should the Plan include a standalone policy to ensure the necessary support to facilitate its continued expansion over the Plan period?” Jaguar Land Rover – Company Profile 2.2 Jaguar Land Rover is a global business and the UK’s largest automotive employer, creating both direct and indirect jobs within the UK. 2.3 Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturing business, and in 2015, sold 487,065 vehicles in 160 markets. More than 80% of vehicles produced are exported, generating revenue of £18.1 billion. In recognition of outstanding performance Jaguar and Land Rover won 180 awards in 2014/15. 2.4 Jaguar Land Rover's UK operations take place at various locations, with three vehicle manufacturing plants - two in the West Midlands at Castle Bromwich and Solihull, one is located near to Liverpool in Halewood - and two advanced design and engineering centres at Gaydon (Stratford District) and Whitley (Coventry). There are new facilities located at Fen End, near Kenilworth and Prologis Park in Ryton. Furthermore, Jaguar Land Rover has invested £1 billion in its Engine Manufacturing Centre near Wolverhampton, which opened in 2015. The facility is expected to provide circa 1,400 jobs and construction is underway to add 85,000 sqm of additional floorspace to the manufacturing facility. 2.5 In the last five years, Jaguar Land Rover’s turnover has tripled and its workforce has more than doubled. The company now employs over 38,000 people with over 35,000 of those people based in the UK. 2.6 As well as direct employment, Jaguar Land Rover’s activities sustain some 240,000 jobs throughout the UK at dealerships, suppliers and local businesses. 2.7 Jaguar Land Rover recognises that continual advancement is critical to maintaining competitive and advancing vehicle design and technology in a sustainable manner. Jaguar Land Rover’s commitment to advanced design and technology is reflected in the fact that the company is the biggest UK investor in R&D in the manufacturing sector and is in the 'global top 100 for R&D' spend. This is a responsible approach to ensuring the business grows in the future. 2.8 Jaguar Land Rover’s innovation is continuous. It invested £3 billion last year in product creation and capital expenditure to bring more new vehicles to market. Over the past three years the business has announced 11,000 new jobs, which is a significant step to helping the government achieve its aim of rebalancing the UK economy and meeting the objectives of the National Planning Policy Framework. 4 2.9 Jaguar Land Rover is the UK’s largest automotive apprenticeship provider and some 900 apprentices have joined the company in the past five years. Its school Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths programmes engaged around 643,000 young people in the UK last year, including many schools close to its sites. In addition, almost 9,000 of its employees are enrolled in further and higher education. 2.10 In addition to the advanced design and engineering centres at Gaydon and Whitley, Jaguar Land Rover has invested heavily in a number of collaborative research and development programmes, in association with other partners and a number of higher education establishments in the West Midlands, to help create a workforce of highly skilled engineers, in an area long-associated with the automotive industry. These projects include the new £150 million National Automotive Innovation Centre at the University of Warwick, which Jaguar Land Rover is creating with partners including, Tata Motors European Technical Centre and WMG (Warwick Manufacturing Group). When this facility opens it will become the innovation and research hub for approximately 1,000 researchers and engineers from Jaguar Land Rover and their academic and supplier partners. 2.11 Jaguar Land Rover is not only one of the main employers in the West Midlands, but is an integral part of the manufacturing future of the area and the UK as a whole. It is therefore essential that the business is supported by a facilitative planning framework that allows it to continue to grow. The Current Whitley Site 2.12 Whitley is home to Jaguar Land Rover’s world headquarters and a global engineering centre for Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Facilities include an advanced powertrain engineering facility, as well as the Jaguar Design department. Approximately 5,400 people are employed at the 49 hectare site. As Jaguar Land Rover has expanded over the last 7 years so has the number of staff and operations at the Whitley site. The growth has now reached a point where the site is at capacity, placing pressure on accommodation at Whitley where its engineers, researchers and support staff are based and its engine and gearbox development and testing facilities are located. As such problems are currently being experienced with lack of suitable accommodation. Resolution to Grant Planning Permission for Jaguar Land Rover at the Whitley Site 2.13 In accordance with the need for further growth at Whitley, an outline planning application was submitted to Coventry City (Ref: OUT/2016/0405) and Warwick District (Ref: W/16/0239) Councils on 8th February 2016, on behalf of Jaguar Land Rover and Coventry City Council to provide a mixture of uses which include: research and development facilities and light industrial uses, a hotel, car showroom accommodation, small scale retail and catering establishments, a park and remodelling of junctions on the existing highway network. 2.14 The Application site consists of land to the north and south of the A45 (between the Festival and Tollbar Island junctions on the A45 and A46), to the south of Jaguar Land Rover’s Global 5 Headquarters and Whitley Business Park and north west of Coventry Airport. The development also includes works to land at junctions on the surrounding highway network, namely junctions of the A45 and A46 at Festival and Tollbar Islands; the junction of the A444 (Stivichall and Cheylesmore By-Pass) with the A4114 (London Road) and the junction of the A46 with Stoneleigh Road. Road). 2.15 On 26th April 2016, it was resolved that the Planning Committee is minded to approve those elements of the application within the administration area of Coventry City Council, subject to the conditions and subject to the Section 106 Agreement being signed. 2.16 In accordance with the resolution to grant, the Jaguar Land Rover development will expand the existing Whitley site to the south (Whitley South), which is part within Coventry City’s Local Plan, JE2:3 Whitley Business Park Employment Land Allocation. Within Warwick District Council, the site is located within Warwick’s Policy DS16, Sub-Regional Employment Site Allocation. 2.17 The Jaguar Land Rover development, comprises three main elements (as per the resolution to grant of the planning application): • the creation of a technology campus, involving the development of up to 70,683 sq m of mixed B1 buildings intended primarily for Automotive technologies together with hotel(s) (Use Class C1); Retail unit(s) (Use Class A1, A3, A4 and A5); and car showroom(s), comprising: o Up to 56,766 sq m of B1 (primarily B1b/B1c space) and car showroom(s) (of which a maximum of 4,645 sq m will be used for car showroom space) o Up to 2,300 sq m of ancillary A1, A3, A4, A5 floorspace o Up to 11,617 sq m of C1 floorspace. • significant on and off site highway works; and • the establishment of an extensive area of open space and strategic landscaping, incorporating public access and biodiversity enhancement. 2.18 It is considered essential that the emerging Local Plan provides continued support for this and other potential related development at Whitley which will facilitate the potential for future investment in Jaguar Land Rover’s research and development and engineering operations. 2.19 The expansion of the Whitley site will continue the technological advancement of engine and overall powertrain product design, including low emission vehicles, which is set to maintain Jaguar Land Rover at the forefront of automotive design and technology. 2.20 The development to significantly expand the existing operations at Whitley will deliver significant enhancements to help ensure the long-term sustainability of Jaguar Land Rover’s business at the site in Coventry and neighbouring Warwick, and within the wider 6 Warwickshire district as a whole, helping meet the aspirations of stakeholders including the District, County and City Councils and Local Enterprise Partnership. 2.21 As a business Jaguar Land Rover needs to ensure that it can adapt quickly to external forces such as technological advances and changes in customer demand.